--- title: This happened once, and it happened twice, but then the man got tire… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: This happened once, and it happened twice, but then the man got tired of losing his crop, and said to his sons--he had three of them, and the third was called Cinderlad--that one of them must go and sleep in the barn on St. John’s night, for it was absurd to let the grass be eaten up again, blade an --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/3/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Blue Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/) / [The Princess on the Glass Hill](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/) / 3 # The Blue Fairy Book, The Princess on the Glass Hill, sentence 3 This happened once, and it happened twice, but then the man got tired of losing his crop, and said to his sons--he had three of them, and the third was called Cinderlad--that one of them must go and sleep in the barn on St. John’s night, for it was absurd to let the grass be eaten up again, blade and stalk, as it had been the last two years, and the one who went to watch must keep a sharp look-out, the man said. **Who acts:** This, it, man, one, barn · **What happens:** happen, get, lose, say, have, call · **To what, where:** crop, sons, three, third, barn, grass · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Princess on the Glass Hill. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, it, man, one), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg503:48:3 # text = This happened once, and it happened twice, but then the man got tired of losing his crop, and said to his sons--he had three of them, and the third was called Cinderlad--that one of them must go and sleep in the barn on St. John’s night, for it was absurd to let the grass be eaten up again, blade and stalk, as it had been the last two years, and the one who went to watch must keep a sharp look-out, the man said. 1 This this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 2 nsubj _ _ 2 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 2 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 5 and and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 6 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 7 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 8 twice twice ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 7 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 10 but but CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 11 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 14 advmod _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ _ 14 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 15 tired tired ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 xcomp _ _ 16 of of SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 17 losing lose VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 15 advcl _ _ 18 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 crop crop NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 conj _ _ 23 to to ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 -- -- PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 27 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 28 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 29 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 28 obj _ _ 30 of of ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 37 cc _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 third third ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 37 nsubj:pass _ _ 36 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 37 aux:pass _ _ 37 called call VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 parataxis _ _ 38 Cinderlad Cinderlad PROPN NNP Number=Sing 37 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 39 -- -- PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 that that SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 41 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 45 nsubj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nmod _ _ 44 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 45 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 conj _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 47 sleep sleep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 conj _ _ 48 in in ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 50 barn barn NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obl _ _ 51 on on ADP IN _ 55 case _ _ 52 St. St. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 53 nmod:desc _ _ 53 John John PROPN NNP Number=Sing 55 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 54 ’s 's PART POS _ 53 case _ _ 55 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 60 punct _ _ 57 for for ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 58 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 60 nsubj _ _ 59 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 60 cop _ _ 60 absurd absurd ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 45 parataxis _ _ 61 to to PART TO _ 62 mark _ _ 62 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 66 advcl _ _ 63 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 64 det _ _ 64 grass grass NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ _ 65 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 66 aux:pass _ _ 66 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 60 csubj _ _ 67 up up ADP RP _ 66 compound:prt _ _ 68 again again ADV RB _ 66 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 69 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 70 blade blade NOUN NN Number=Sing 66 parataxis _ _ 71 and and CCONJ CC _ 72 cc _ _ 72 stalk stalk NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 73 , , PUNCT , _ 81 punct _ _ 74 as as ADP IN _ 81 case _ _ 75 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 81 nsubj _ _ 76 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 81 aux _ _ 77 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 81 cop _ _ 78 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 81 det _ _ 79 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 81 amod _ _ 80 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 81 nummod _ _ 81 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 66 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 82 , , PUNCT , _ 91 punct _ _ 83 and and CCONJ CC _ 91 cc _ _ 84 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 85 det _ _ 85 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 91 nsubj _ _ 86 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 87 nsubj _ _ 87 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 85 acl:relcl _ _ 88 to to PART TO _ 89 mark _ _ 89 watch watch VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 87 xcomp _ _ 90 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 91 aux _ _ 91 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 advcl _ _ 92 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 96 det _ _ 93 sharp sharp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 96 amod _ _ 94 look look NOUN NN Number=Sing 96 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 95 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 94 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 96 out out NOUN NN Number=Sing 91 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 97 , , PUNCT , _ 100 punct _ _ 98 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 99 det _ _ 99 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 100 nsubj _ _ 100 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 91 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 101 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **happen** | past | This | | | | | once *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **happen** | past | it | | | | | twice *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **get** | past | the man | | | | then | tired *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **lose** | gerund | the man *not said here* | man's crop | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent crop=Eventuality | | 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the man *not said here* | | man's sons | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to son=Recipient | | 6 | **have** | past | man | three of sons | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent three=Patient | | 7 | **call** | past · passive | | the third | | | | | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient | | 8 | **go** | must | one of sons | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **sleep** | infinitive | one of sons *not said here* | | | the barn on John St.'s night | | | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in barn=Location | | 10 | **is** | past | it | | | | | absurd *property* | tree rules | | 11 | **let** | to-infinitive | | the grass | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Theme | | 12 | **eat up** | infinitive · passive | | | | | again | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V» | | 13 | **is** | past · perfect | barn | | | | as the last two years | | tree rules | | 14 | **go** | past | the one | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 15 | **watch** | to-infinitive | the one *not said here* | | | | | | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | | 16 | **keep** | must | the one | a sharp look out | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent out=Theme | | 17 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the man | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree. **Text:** «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 503 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/4/) - ↑ back to [The Princess on the Glass Hill](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/)